Obama dodges but Sestak questions won't go Away

How interested is Barack Obama in discussing Rep. Joe Sestak’s allegation that the White House offered him a big government job if he would not challenge Sen. Arlen Specter, the White House’s favored candidate in the Pennsylvania Senate primary?

Well, when the president was asked about it at his news conference Thursday — the question didn’t come up until the very last reporter was called on — the normally long-winded Obama spoke for a total of 32 seconds.

“I can assure the public that nothing improper took place,” Obama said, echoing earlier statements from White House officials who denied any wrongdoing. “There will be an official response shortly.” And that was that.

Obama’s brief answer brought a smile to Rep. Darrell Issa, who has been pursuing the Sestak issue in his role as ranking Republican on the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform. “That means the answer will be forthcoming after the lights go out for the weekend,” Issa said shortly after the news conference. “While the president is away and nobody’s available, a statement will come out.”

The way Issa sees it, the White House has to thread the needle when it finally responds to Sestak’s charges. A retired Navy admiral, Sestak is now the Democratic candidate for Senate fromPennsylvania, and the White House wants all the Democratic senators it can get. So they can’t come out and call Sestak a liar or a hack. On the other hand, they can’t admit that what Sestak is saying is true, because that would be, in the words of top White House adviser David Axelrod, a “serious breach of the law.”